Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants who were given a negative decision following the suspension of their claim by the risk review team (a) appealed that decision and (b) had a tribunal allow their appeal.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
212 out of 188,119 claimants who have had their cases suspended by the Risk Review Team have appealed the decision (0.11%) with 42 claimants having their appeal allowed, which is 0.02% of the total number of claims suspended.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many secondary appeals were lodged following an initial lapsed appeal due to the Secretary of State revising the decision before the initial appeal could be decided in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The information requested is not available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish guidance on the steps a claimant should take when his Department fails to reinstate a claim following a successful appeal.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Personal Independence Payment has a target of 28 days for implementing a tribunal’s decision and is currently averaging around 10 days.
Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit do not have an overarching target. Decisions are implemented as quickly as possible, with some exceptions.
For all three benefits, information on the average time to reinstate payments for the period requested is not collated centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
If a decision is not implemented timeously, there is guidance published by HMCTS and available on Gov.UK, entitled ‘How to appeal against a decision made by the Department for Work and Pensions’.
The main reason that a tribunal’s decision might not be implemented timeously, is if the Secretary of State considers that the decision may contain an error of law and suspends payment of the tribunal’s award whilst that is considered. In such a case the claimant must be notified that this is being done. If the claimant is not notified of a reason for the decision not being implemented, then they can contact the department: this can be done by using the telephone numbers on Gov.UK, on the decision letter they received, or by attending a Jobcentre; if it is a UC appeal they can use their journal.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has a target timescale for reinstating claims for (a) Universal Credit, (b) Personal Independence Payment and (c) Employment and Support Allowance after an appeal has been allowed.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Personal Independence Payment has a target of 28 days for implementing a tribunal’s decision and is currently averaging around 10 days.
Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit do not have an overarching target. Decisions are implemented as quickly as possible, with some exceptions.
For all three benefits, information on the average time to reinstate payments for the period requested is not collated centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
If a decision is not implemented timeously, there is guidance published by HMCTS and available on Gov.UK, entitled ‘How to appeal against a decision made by the Department for Work and Pensions’.
The main reason that a tribunal’s decision might not be implemented timeously, is if the Secretary of State considers that the decision may contain an error of law and suspends payment of the tribunal’s award whilst that is considered. In such a case the claimant must be notified that this is being done. If the claimant is not notified of a reason for the decision not being implemented, then they can contact the department: this can be done by using the telephone numbers on Gov.UK, on the decision letter they received, or by attending a Jobcentre; if it is a UC appeal they can use their journal.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time was for his Department to reinstate payments for (a) Employment and Support Allowance, (b) Universal Credit and (c) Personal Independence Payment following a tribunal allowing an appeal in each month between January 2020 and March 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Personal Independence Payment has a target of 28 days for implementing a tribunal’s decision and is currently averaging around 10 days.
Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit do not have an overarching target. Decisions are implemented as quickly as possible, with some exceptions.
For all three benefits, information on the average time to reinstate payments for the period requested is not collated centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
If a decision is not implemented timeously, there is guidance published by HMCTS and available on Gov.UK, entitled ‘How to appeal against a decision made by the Department for Work and Pensions’.
The main reason that a tribunal’s decision might not be implemented timeously, is if the Secretary of State considers that the decision may contain an error of law and suspends payment of the tribunal’s award whilst that is considered. In such a case the claimant must be notified that this is being done. If the claimant is not notified of a reason for the decision not being implemented, then they can contact the department: this can be done by using the telephone numbers on Gov.UK, on the decision letter they received, or by attending a Jobcentre; if it is a UC appeal they can use their journal.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will include in his Department's Annual Report for the 2022-23 financial year a performance measure on the number and proportion of appeals against decisions by his Department to refuse (a) Employment Support Allowance, (b) Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work and (c) Personal Independence Payment that (i) lapsed in advance of the hearing and (ii) were overturned by the First Tier Tribunal.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to monitoring and reporting progress against the priority outcomes agreed for the department in the Spending Review 2021 settlement.
We will publish our Annual Report and Accounts for 2022/23 in Summer 2023, which will include performance statistics on key measures and metrics, including customer satisfaction levels, and support provided to those in receipt of disability benefits.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to include data on (a) the number of requests for a mandatory reconsideration of decision by his Department to refuse an application for (i) Employment Support Allowance, (ii) Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work and (iii) Personal Independence Payment and (b) the proportion of those reconsiderations that resulted in a change of award as measures of performance in his Department's Annual Report for the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to monitoring and reporting progress against the priority outcomes agreed for the department in the Spending Review 2021 settlement.
We will publish our Annual Report and Accounts for 2022/23 in Summer 2023, which will include performance statistics on key measures and metrics, including customer satisfaction levels, and support provided to those in receipt of disability benefits.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2022 to Question 110773 on Social Security Benefits: Appeals, if he will make an assessment of the causes of the rates of revision of decisions on Mandatory Reconsideration.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The department is committed to making the right decision as early as possible in the claims process. At mandatory reconsideration, decisions are reviewed, with the existing evidence considered together with any new evidence provided by the claimant. Decisions will be changed if the evidence supports this.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2022 to Question 110773 on Social Security Benefits: Appeals, how many appeals were determined by the First Tier Tribunal; and how many determinations upheld his Department’s decision.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Of the 175 RRT cases lodged under the appeals process quoted in PQ110773, 42 were determined by the First tier Tribunal. Of these, 19 upheld the department’s decision either partially (2) or fully (17).
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2022 to Question 63290 on Social Security Benefits: Appeals, how many appeals have been lodged following a decision made under the Risk Review Process; and what proportion of those appeals have (a) lapsed and (b) been overturned by the tribunal as of 14 December 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
From 21 January 2022, when we started collating figures, there have been 175 appeals lodged under the Risk Review Process.
Of those that have reached an outcome, there are 24 (13.7%) that have lapsed and 23 (13.1%) that have been overturned by the tribunal.